Friday, July 14, 2017

Four Things

1. Awhile back, I hit upon a (probably
temporary) solution to variants of "Are we there,
yet?"

Most days, I pick up my four-year-old son from
daycare before my daughter, who, by that time, is working on her
reading with the aid of an iPad app. This means I'm in a small waiting
area having to entertain him for an eternity of five to ten minutes'
duration while Pumpkin finishes up. Needless to say, he started
repeatedly asking me if she was done yet.

Fortunately, in
only a couple of repetitions, I realized I could help him answer the
question himself and put him to work for me.

I explained to
him how he could tell for himself: As long as his sister was sitting
down in front of an iPad, she wasn't done. Then, I had him check for
me. Now, he takes a look every few minutes and updates me on her
status, which is cute, rather than annoying. Sometimes, when we get
there, I'll ask him if she's done yet to set the tone.

2. Here's a clever idea I hadn't thought of
myself:

[E]very time I make an appliance purchase --
vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, car -- I go to a repair shop [for
advice]. They're always excited to talk to someone who will
listen. They may even have a used model that will last you for
years. [bold added]

And if they don't have a used one,
they tell the author which models are durable enough to be worth
repairing. Preceding this paragraph in the whole
post is the insight that will make sense of the advice, and so
make it stick.

3. The following, from
an A. V. Clubarticle
on Pilsner, makes me think of the explosion in popularity of "big"
craft beers in the United States over the past couple of
decades:

Pilsner was invented by accident. The
beer-obsessed Czech Republic town of Pilsen built a new
state-of-the-art brewery during the industrial revolution. In the
1840s, a man named Martin Stelzer oversaw the construction, drawing
inspiration from the latest innovations of Bavarian breweries. He also
recruited a Bavarian brewer named Josef Groll to the project. Legend
has it the town expected Groll to brew a brown Bavarian lager, but the
first batch came out golden and effervescent, with a creamy head of
snow-white foam. In a time of thick, turbid beers, this refreshing
brew from Pilsen was a revelation. [bold
added]

Similarly, the advent of craft brewing came against
a backdrop of "lawnmower beers." (HT: Snedcat)

4. I'll end with the following inspirational
quote:

"If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and
you're not sure you can do it, say yes -- then learn how to do it
later!" -- Richard Branson

This comes by way of
a Forbesarticle
titled, "9 Simple Ways to Make More Money in Your Current
Job."